The Agony of Acquiring Your Hermes Bag

 

Hermès bags with French roots (the fashion house was founded in 1837 in Paris) are legendary. The owners of iconic models of bags, like Kelly and Birkin, have long been celebrities, politicians, stars and other public figures. It is these Hermès bags that almost the entire female population of the planet desires. A bag like Birkin or Kelly is not just an elite, beautifully designed accessory that adorns its owner, it is already a whole philosophy. By purchasing such a bag, a person seems to be giving a signal to society that they belong to a very elite circle of refined individuals who “hold in their hands” impressive reserves of capital. By the way, the prices for these iconic models from Hermès only prove the fact that an average person simply cannot buy them: they are too expensive. But here, too, there is a "pitfall": even having the financial ability to spend such funds on a bag, you should still expect that it may simply not be sold to you. The brand's policy in this regard is extremely expressive: customers are implicitly asked to "earn" the right to purchase this iconic accessory.

 

The Complex Algorithm

How exactly does the whole process of selecting the “lucky ones” take place? To begin with, you need to understand that if you hope to enter a brand boutique, indicate to a consultant the parameters of the desired bag and after a short time receive it from the consultant at the checkout, then this is fundamentally wrong. According to the policy of such a respected brand as Hermès, you will inevitably face “tough rules” and a rather “cold attitude” from the boutique's sellers.

The amazing thing is: while the rest of the world-famous classic brands of the high fashion segment pursue the goal to “please the client”, adjusting to his or her preferences and tastes, Hermès literally “doesn’t care” about these very preferences, because the policy of this brand is such that the customer, visiting the boutique, is supposed to “beg” the sellers to sell him or her the iconic bag. Moreover, the "conquest" of the right to purchase an accessory is tacitly divided into several stages:

step 1 - the client is attached to one of the employees of the boutique (called a "personal consultant");

step 2 - the client (again, the "implicitly written rule") must purchase something else in the boutique. It can be a perfume, a scarf, a small accessory – in fact, the object of purchase is not important - the very fact of purchasing a product is much more important for a boutique. All this is done only in order to prove to the store manager that you are the very “desired customer” who definitely understands all the specifics of the brand, truly appreciates it and deserves the right to buy an iconic bag.

step 3 - after the customer has made purchases and entered the database, they are given information indicating the name of the seller and the time when they need to drive up to the boutique.

The brand's policy here is that employees have the right to appoint the same time for at least hundreds of customers at once, which is why queues are often observed at Hermès. People are in a hurry to be the first to open the store, as the quota of models of iconic bags for sale (per day) is limited. So the buyers take their places in the queue almost 5 hours before the boutique starts working. Thus, in the mornings, near the flagship Hermès boutiques, you can often observe the following picture: a richly dressed audience stands for hours at closed doors, waiting for the start of sales of bags for 10 thousand euros. But even after many hours of queuing, customers still have to go through some “selection stages”.

step 4 - "interview" with the selected consultant. It is important here to convince the seller that you are not a reseller, and the bag is needed only for your personal use. The attitude towards resellers in Hermès is generally terrible: the security is ready to throw out anyone who dares to "tarnish" the impeccable reputation of the brand by reselling the brand's products. Well, for all other categories of buyers, at the interview it is important to show that you are familiar with the model range of the brand, know how to distinguish one type of leather from another, and, of course, are able to describe in detail their preferences regarding the bag: color, type of metal, size , dressing and type of leather. It must be remembered that the consultant writes down all the answers in his notebook and then analyzes them for inconsistencies.

 

Being Kept in Suspense

After the end of this "mini-interview", the client waits whether they will bring him or her the desired model. Typically, the entire procedure can take up to 30 minutes. Note here that while the client is waiting for the return of the consultant allegedly from the warehouse, this very consultant consults with the management about the buyer, breaks it through the boutique's base, analyzes the financial condition, the client's appearance, style and even marital status. Checking as when applying for a visa at the embassy, ​​not otherwise. And when the decision is made, the consultant selects the product and provides it (or refuses to provide) for this very buyer.

If you study the reviews of Hermès customers, it becomes immediately obvious that the brand grants the "right to buy" iconic bags to a really small number of people, mainly among them are, as a rule, successful celebrities, famous artists and other popular celebrities, most of whom have good taste in choosing clothes.

 

There’s a Way!

 

So the question remains: is it actually IMPOSSIBLE to acquire an Hermes bag? While the process described above is long and complicated, it is worth trying or you might consider buying a pre-owned Birkin or Kelly, for example, through an authorized website like ours. 99% of our bags retain their mint condition since they have been carried only a couple of times by their previous owners, who – only God knows why – decided to bid farewell to their possessions. So much the better for us – as we can enter into the ownership of something precious yet much cheaper than the original price of the bag.

   

 

The best way is probably to try for yourself 😊